A Marine Spatial Planning framework for the optimal siting of Marine Renewable Energy Installations: two Danish case studies.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Azzellino A., Kofoed J.P., Lanfredi C., Margheritini L., Pedersen M., 2013. A Marine Spatial Planning framework for the optimal siting of Marine Renewable Energy Installations: two Danish case studies. In this analysis two Danish case studies are investigated using a spatial planning approach. The first case study concerns the area on the west coast of Denmark that has been elected as test site by the Danish Wave Energy Center (DanWEC), a foundation constituted by local authorities, Aalborg University supported by the national wave energy industry. The second case study attains the Danish portion of the western Baltic sea, where many offshore windfarms are already installed and many projects are in construction or in the planning stage. The environmental background for the two areas is considered through set of multiple indicators (e.g. sea bottom topography and characteristics, marine biodiversity, presence of vulnerable species). Environmental indicators are aggregated into environmental impact...